For what it is worth, they ( the first re-builders) did put a new solenoid on.

It is freak'in freezing in the back of the plant right now, but as soon as it warms up a bit, I am going to put EVERYTHING back together, cleaned, and start again ( pun intended).

If no go, I will put in Robyn's starter and see what happens..

I still am going to get a load test done on my battery...just because and it cost nothing.

I also have put into place my ARMSTRONG starter system, retro fitting the front pulley with one from a 1948 Austin A-40 ( of which I once owned) along with the crank handle. I use to start my Austin with that on occasion. I have asked Santa Claus for a gym membership, so I can get my right arm stronger, as cranking the 10:0 compression, could be an issue, I think the compression on the Austin was down to 7:1 before it finally died on me.......

Good call on load testing the battery before you put it back in the vehicle, cleaning all connections on both ground and positive side will also eliminate any voltage drop. I realize that when you bypassed all the wiring in the car and the starter did the same thing pointed to the starter. Remember a re builder will only bench test a starter (no load) and any issues (like high resistance) may not show up as in cranking a high compression engine. As mentioned by another poster there could be corrosion/ burned terminal on the solenoid that will not show up on a bench test but will show up on cranking the engine. Again careful voltage drop of each component on the pos/neg side should show you where your problem is.

Made an assumption that my starter was re-built two years ago, must be good! Period..simple as that.

I put in the starter Robyn has kindly donated to the Great Rolling Dyno...and it cranked like it has not in a long time...PERIOD.

I put all my spark wires on today and it lit off in an instant and that was at 39F. ambient temp.. I would suggest that the starter had issues not long after it was rebuilt, as I put my warrantied NEW battery in at the same time. I keep a log book and it was not long after that that my cold(ambient) first start of a day would give me an occasional issue.

I phoned the guy that tested it and he thinks it may be a bad spot on the armature, we will see. I am going to take it in and get him to take it a part and hopefully fix it, and that will let us know for future reference.

Re the headlight project. Ever since I saw Byron's crazy bright lights at Knox, I have wanted to do the proper upgrade for better night lighting. As many of our drives both start and finish in the dark, it's time for it.

Back in May, I started looking at options, trying to make sure I was not missing something modern. I was not convinced that LED's were that good yet and ultimately am still on that thought. They are bright, but, the lense's still do not project as good as I want.

I stumbled onto a fellow down in the States, who seems to have it together as to what would WORK IN MY 510 ( and lighting in general in my opinion). In the new year I am going to bite the bullet and order what he has recommended and will report on how well that goes.

Our CDN dollar has gotten a bit better, so the pain will not be as bad.